Kantian Courage:Advancing the Enlightenment in Contemporary Political Theory

Advancing the Enlightenment in Contemporary Political Theory

Nicholas Tampio

Publication Year: 2012

How may progressive political theorists advance the Enlightenment after Darwin shifted the conversation about human nature in the 19th century, the Holocaust displayed barbarity at the historical center of the Enlightenment, and 9/11 showed the need to modify the ideals and strategies of the Enlightenment? Kantian Courage considers how several figures in contemporary political theory--including John Rawls, Gilles Deleuze, and Tariq Ramadan--do just this as they continue Immanuel Kant's legacy.Rather than advocate specific Kantian ideas, the book contends that political progressives should embody Kantian courage--a critical and creative disposition to invent new political theories to address the problems of the age. It illuminates Kant's legacy in contemporary intellectual debates; constructs a dialogue among Anglo-American, Continental, and Islamic political theorists; and shows how progressives may forge alliances across political and religious differences by inventing concepts such as the overlapping consensus, the rhizome, and the spaceof testimony. The book will interest students of the Enlightenment, contemporary political theorists and philosophers, and a general audience concerned about the future of the relationship between Islam and the West.

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

Preface

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and political movement committed
to charting a new course for Europe and North America after the religious
wars of the seventeenth century. The Enlightenment continues to shape academia
and progressive politics by supplying ideas, conceptual toolkits, and
an ethos celebrating the construction of timely political theories. ...

Introduction: Advancing the Enlightenment

On January 27, 2009, US President Barack Obama announced that the
War on Terror was over. Appearing on the Al Arabiya news network for
his first official interview as president, Obama explained, “The language
we use matters.” The language of war on terror perpetuates a Manichaean
dualism between good and evil, ...

1. Kantian Courage

In 1932, shortly before the Nazis exiled him from Germany, Ernst Cassirer
defended the Enlightenment against its opponents. “Instead of assuming a
derogatory air, we must take courage and measure our powers against those
of the age of the Enlightenment.”1 Cassirer’s call for courage resonates today
when the Enlightenment is again under attack from several angles. ...

2. Formulating Problems

Giovanna Borradori opens her book, Philosophy in a Time of Terror, by speculating
on philosophy’s relationship to history. According to the classical
tradition of Plato and Aristotle, philosophy aims to grasp universal principles
whereas history seeks knowledge of singular events. ...

3. Constructing Theories

In a recent book titled Is Critique Secular?, Talal Asad and Judith Butler
debate whether Kant, or the Enlightenment more broadly, may still serve
as a resource to critical political theory. Asad argues that Michel Foucault
is wrong to valorize Kant, the Enlightenment, secular reason, or the modern
West. ...

4. Engaging Islam

One of the most common—and still-illuminating—observations about
Kant’s practical philosophy is that it attempts to secularize Christianity. 1 Kant clearly wanted his philosophy to resonate with the predominantly
Christian audience that his work addressed. ...

Conclusion: The Battle for Autonomy

In Kant and the Limits of Autonomy Susan Meld Shell explains why she—and many other political philosophers and theorists—treat Kant’s legacy
so seriously. Kant’s practical philosophy has inspired liberal democrats for
over two centuries. The concept of autonomy, in particular, has served as
the foundation for (American) progressive political thought ...

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